Phil Neville calls for MLS investigation after Inter Miami's fifth straight loss

Phil Neville has called for Major League Soccer to open investigation into the decisions going against his Inter Miami side.

The Florida outfit, who are David Beckham 's franchise club, have lost five matches on the bounce, the latest being at the hands of New York Red Bulls.

Former Celtic striker Patryk Klimala's 25th-minute strike was enough to down Neville and co, with Red Bulls having also inflicted Inter's first defeat of their torrid run less than a month ago.

But the ex- Manchester United utility man didn't hold back in his post-match press conference, fuming about talisman Gonzalo Higuain being flagged offside when he was played through on the hour mark and slotted home what would have been an equaliser.

It follows the east coast side having a goal ruled out for a foul in their 1-0 defeat to Portland Timbers last Sunday, and after another decision against his team, Neville called for a "massive investigation about some of the decisions that get given against Inter Miami."

Higuain thought he had equalised for Inter Miami but his goal was ruled out for offside ( Image:

USA TODAY Sports)

The 44-year-old went on to say: "We got cheated in Portland and we've been cheated again.

"I don't want to sound like a broken record, but something is fundamentally wrong with the way referees treat Inter Miami.

"We're playing in one of the best leagues in the world, and I'm having a great experience, but I've got a dressing room that's asking real, real questions about the integrity of this league in terms of the decisions we keep getting."

The former England Women 's manager continued: "We've had our integrity questioned this year.

"We got stones thrown at us and had to take a lot of **** and when you do wrong you accept it.

"I hope I don't come across as a bad loser. Congratulations to New York Red Bulls," he noted.

"But I'm sick and tired of receiving emails on Mondays saying: 'Sorry, the calls could have gone the other way.'"

Neville praised on-field referee Toni Penso for her performance but was livid with the video assistant officials.

"I thought the referee had a really good game," he added.

"An outstanding female official has been let down incredibly by the VAR system."

Sitting eight points and four places adrift of the play-off spots with six games remaining, next up for Inter is a trip to Columbus on Saturday.

Neville fumed during his post-match press conference following the 1-0 loss ( Image:

@InterMiamiCF/Twitter)

Another loss would equal their dismal run of six over the summer which saw calls for the ex-Everton captain to be sacked, before their form picked up when club president Beckham came stateside and Neville plead for him to stay as a good luck charm.

His tenure, which began in April, has seen mixed results and given Miami the tag of being streaky as opposed to up and down week-to-week.

Their five successive defeats were preceded by just one in 11 games as they racked up seven wins and clawed themselves back into MLS Cup contention.